Desire 2 Ride - Road Bike Hire

Wiggo’s Warning that the Sky
will fall in on young riders

The Guardian reports that Bradley Wiggins has warned
young cyclists to steer clear of Sky claiming his former employers will
“ruin” them. The 2012 Tour de France
winner was speaking at the announcement of a new roster of riders for Team
Wiggins, the under-23 team he has set up. He introduced his new signing Tom
Piddock and when asked if he had any advice for his young charge, the 37-year-old
made a stinging assessment of his former team. “Don’t go to Sky, steer clear of
them,” he said. “Go somewhere else because they’ll ruin you.”

Wiggins was speaking against the backdrop of mounting pressure
on Team Sky to submit their appeal to a drug test Chris Froome failed at
last year’s Vuelta a España. Froome had double the permitted amount of the
asthma drug salbutamol in a urine sample and is now trying to prove there is a
legitimate physiological explanation for the finding.

While Wiggins declined to comment on Froome’s case he
believes Team Sky’s dominance, winning five of the past six Tour de France
races, and a building portfolio of controversy have led to a “negative”
atmosphere in the sport.

When asked to elaborate on his comments, Wiggins said: “They are
not barbed jokes or digs, that’s the reality of the sport at the moment. I saw the
reports only last week from Andalusia, or wherever it was, and they are the
best team in the world. How many races did they win last week? And there’s a
lot of talk about them at the moment and there’s a lot of negative talk as
well.”

Wiggins retired from professional cycling in 2016 and has since
embarked on a challenge to switch to rowing. He also wants to establish a
women’s equivalent to Team Wiggins. He suggested cycling would benefit from a
salary cap to lower barriers to entry, again making a barbed reference to Team
Sky.

11/02/2018

A63: Time Trial Ban

Cyclists may be banned from a stretch of the A63 near Hull which was once used by the Olympian Bradley Wiggins, in a move described as deeply concerning by the sport’s governing body.

Highways England has applied for a traffic regulation order to stop cyclists using part of the road which is regarded as the fastest 10-mile time trial course in the UK.

The agency said it was seeking the ban “in the interests of road safety” after six crashes involving cyclists and vehicles in the past five years, including one fatal collision.

However, the move was criticised by British Cycling and Welcome to Yorkshire, which said the county risked losing its reputation as the “cycling capital of Europe” if it went ahead.

The British Cycling chief executive, Julie Harrington, said the order would set an “extremely dangerous precedent” if approved.

“We believe that this response is disproportionate given the small number of collisions involving cyclists on this route, especially when there are far more incidents involving just cars,” she said.

06/02/2018

07/04/2016

Good article from the Inner Ring - a few years old - Spectating Tips for a Grand Tour

It’s great to follow a stage race on TV and the web
but the race belongs to the roadside crowds more than any remote audience.
Watching the race from the side of the road is the best vantage point possible
because if offers more than a visual spectacle, you can hear and smell the race
too.

But it’s easy to make a few mistakes. Just as
racers need info and plans on a mountain stage, spectators can gain from
preparing too. Here are some tips for a day spent watching a grand tour,
especially for a day out in the mountains.

Picking where to watch the race is a tough choice
but chances the decision is already made for a race like the Tour de France.
You will have made travel plans long ago for a holiday in the mountains or
maybe you’re British or Dutch and will head to France to catch a Tour de France
stage when it visits the north of France. The mountains have few roads meaning
access is hard. If you’re in rural France far from the Pyrenees or Alps then
you’ll find it much easier to get close to the race. Obviously the mountain
stages are famous and you can have a whole day out.

Timings and road closures
The race website or local newspaper will have the schedule listing when the
race will pass. However this is more for information because on a big mountain
stage all the roads are blocked from the morning onwards. The roads close well
in advance of the race. There’s no fixed time but on a big mountain stage you
can expect the route to be closed at breakfast time to cars. It’s why many will
drive up the day before and camp overnight, indeed even if you drive up a climb
you’ll find many of the parking places are taken days before by camper vans.

Drive
One option for driving is to find a side road that joins the route, for example
if you want to watch the Mont Ventoux stage of the Tour this year, you can take
the road from Sault towards Mont Ventoux and meet the race route halfway up the
climb near Chalet Reynard. The later you arrive, the further you’ll have to
park and walk.

Bike
Bikes are an obvious option. Whilst the roads are closed to cars, there’s a
period when the police let people ride and walk up. But in time, perhaps
several hours ahead of the race, they will also stop cyclists because the route
becomes a corridor for media and other vehicles and in time the publicity
caravan. But it’s not ideal and depends on the climb. If you can find a quiet
spot then stick the bike against a fence or a tree but if you’re going to the
final climb of the day then giant crowds can occupy every space. The busier the
place, the more you’ll need a lock. A a minimum take some spare shoes so you
don’t wear out your cleats and, better still more in a backpack. But remember
bikes and cycle clothing are for riding, not waiting for hours on a mountain.

Dress the partThe mountains may look sunny but
there’s a reason riders ride past blocks of snow in July. As an imperfect rule
of thumb with every 100 metres of vertical gain you lose 1°C. Regardless it
means a 2,000 metre high mountain pass can be cold and of course the wind can
be stronger Take some warm clothes even if it’s sunny. Beware the strong
sunshine too, if you can find a vantage point in the shade, all the better.

PicnicAs well as clothing, pack some food
and drink. The waiting can be long and ideally visit a local shop and stock on
some regional specialities. Indeed one way to think of your trip is really a
big picnic for hours where a bike race will happen to ride past. This is the
best option if you’re making a family visit to watch the race, come equipped
with food, drink and distractions to keep everyone busy for hours.

Indeed you’ll see some people might even camp for
days on the mountains. Many daytrippers will come with folding chairs and
tables to make the wait more comfortable.

Live CoverageJust because you’re not watching the
race on TV doesn’t mean you can’t watch the race on TV. In the big races a lead
car will often broadcast the race situation but it can be hard to hear or maybe
the in-car commentator doesn’t give out the info when passing you. So a
portable TV, a pocket radio or a smartphone can ensure you keep up to date with
the race. With phones the signal quality can vary but the networks have
invested a lot in the ski areas so coverage is often better than you think
although if you’re visiting Italy or France, check your data charges. But this
can also be a day to forget everything. Sit on a mountain and escape and let
the show come to you.

Where’s the race?
There are many vehicles ahead of the race. A few police vehicles doesn’t mean
the race is coming. Instead wait for the helicopters to announce the race is
coming. There are several TV cameras following the Tour de France and their
presence tells you where the race is.

Avoid townsAnother tip would be to avoid the
finish of a stage if it’s coming into a big town. If you happen to be in the
town, join in but as a destination you’ll find it packed and unless you’re
willing to stand by the finish line for hours then it’s hard to see what is
happening. Indeed with the VIP stands, TV and more an actual spot near the
finish line is hard. If you do go, pick out a place where you have a clear line
of sight to the giant TV screens so you can watch the racing whilst you wait.

Philosophy
For all the practical tips, perhaps the biggest thing to remember is the
philosophical difference between being part of the crowd and a TV spectator.

“The Tour de France is for everyone but above all
it belongs to the innumerable crowds”
Anotine Blondin, L’Equipe, July 1964

You wait all day only to see the race flash past.
Pick your spot on a mountain stage and the procession of riders could take half
an hour, half a day if you visit a time trial. But often you wait hours only to
see the riders go faster than you thought possible, passing you so quick you
don’t know where to look. But this the wait is part of the experience, from the
gradual rise in tension to picnicking somewhere scenic to meeting fellow
cycling fans so ensure you’re ready to enjoy the day rather than just focus on
the race.

A word on the crowd. If you’ve come to this website
it’s because your interest takes you as far as niche cycling blog. But most
people out to watch a stage of the Giro or Tour are there for the show. You
might be able to spot a Campagnolo brakehoods from 100 metres but you’ll soon
find many people can’t even name the race leader. Of course you’ll also find
fellow travellers, the Tour de France in particular brings many fans from
around the world.

The Master Plan

Taste is personal and everyone’s
travel plans will be different. But if you can find a mountain stage and the
sun is shining then aim for the penultimate climb of the day and drive as near
to the route as you can get, perhaps using an access road that meets the Tour
route on the mountain pass. Don’t rush, there’s no point being in place at dawn
but aim to be settled by lunchtime in a scenic spot with some good food and
maybe a book to read to pass the time.

Enjoy the publicity caravan, either join in the scrum
or take the anthropological stance to watch adults fight like wolves for
plastic keyrings scattered from passing vehicles. Cheer on the riders from
first to last and wait for the broom wagon to roll past. This done, head to a
local café that you’ve located earlier and watch the final of the stage on TV
in the company of locals.

One final tip, don’t bother with photos. They might
come out but if they don’t it means you looked at the race through a lense
rather than your own wide-angle eyes. It’s much better to have memories of the
moment in your mind than some blurred photo of half a rider obscured by a limb.

03/04/2016

It has been a rough
couple of days for the sport of cycling. First Antoine Demoitie, a young Belgian pro with
Continental team Wanty-Groupe Gobert,died after being struck by a motorbike at
Ghent-Wevelgem. He was 25 years old, recently married, and on Friday
made an escape in his first WorldTour race, the E3 Harelbeke. Antoine Demoitié, died on Sunday following a crash at the Ghent-Wevelgem semi-classic.

On the same day, his compatriot Daan
Myngheer, three years younger than Demoitie at 22, abandoned on the first stage
of the Criterium International in Corsica after feeling unwell. He suffered a
heart attack in an ambulance en route to hospital.On Monday overnight it was confirmed that he,
too, had died. Aside from the fact that they were both young,
Belgian and had their whole lives in front of them, there was little to connect
these two tragedies.

Unconfirmed reports
suggest Myngheer had a pre-existing heart condition but had been cleared to
race. At this stage, it seems there was little that could have been done to
prevent his death. Demoitie’s, on the other hand, may well have been avoidable. t pays not to be too hasty in these situations and
we must await the outcome of the investigation into the incident to find out
the exact circumstances surrounding Demoitie’s death. As
Wanty-Groupe Gobert press officer Jose Been - who wrotea moving piece on Facebookabout how she dealt with the
tragedy - was careful to stress on Monday, there was no blame being
apportioned by the team to the motorbike rider in question. He was by all accounts hugely experienced, utterly
devastated and, of course, would have tried his best to avoid the crash ahead
of him. But that does not mean that more could not have been done in general.
It is difficult to avoid the impression that this was an accident waiting to
happen.

There have, to put it mildly, been too many
motorbike-related incidents in the last 12 months, some of them involving some
of the biggest hames in the sport.

Most notably Peter Sagan, the current world
champion, whowas forced out of last year’s Vuelta a Espana
after being hit by a motorbike. So why have the UCI been so slow to
instigate change? There are all sorts of things they could have done by now,
from capping the speed at which motorbikes pass riders, to making it harder to
get a licence to drive in races, to limiting the number of vehicles in-race.

To
be fair to the UCI, there are reports of a working group which has been looking
into all of this (although it you would be hard pressed to know as cycling’s
world governing body has not exactly been vocal on the matter, failing to reply
to requests for comment and putting out the most perfunctory of statements in the
wake of the most recent tragedy). But it is hard to imagine, had Sagan died in the
Vuelta, that some of these reforms would not already have passed into the
sport’s laws. Instead, the Slovak was was fined for abusive language and
received a separate fine for “behaviour that damages the image of cycling”
after kicking the motorbike in question.

Not just in terms of the UCI but the media and the
public too. We are all very quick to jump on the latest doping scandal but when
there have been near-misses in races, perhaps we have not applied as much
pressure. Again, had tragedy befallen Sagan last autumn, you can bet that the
reaction would have been 1000 times as big. Instead, the incident was a footnote
in an absorbing race. Demoitie's accident occurred during the
242.8km Gent-Wevelgem race.

What is required now
is real pressure to make change, and leadership from the governing body to
carry out those changes. Not just in terms of motorbikes and in-race vehicles,
but dangerous street furniture and other safety hazards. It is not easy to make
a sport like cycling safe, but there is certainly a huge amount more can be
done.

As the sprinter Marcel Kittel who has writtenan excellent comment pieceon the matter, said: “It’s clear:
Cycling’s biggest problem was doping and still has to be fought. But the safety
issues that are obvious, should get the same attention and priority as the
fight for clean sport. It’s necessary to set higher and better standards for
professional bike races. We owe it to Antoine that we do everything to let that
never happen again.”

Tour de France: Froome stays yellow after TTT

Sky’s
lead man Chris Froome remains in the yellow jersey but the inability of Nicolas
Roche to stay in touch with his team-mates in the closing metres of the team
time trial cost Team Sky the stage 9 TTT win by the most slender of margins:
one second. It was rounded up from 0.62sec, BMC’s actual margin of victory over
the 28km course.

Having put down a significant marker in last month’s Critérium
du Dauphiné the BMC team of Tejay van Garderen were again triumphant on a day
when they had made no secret of their hopes of getting their leader into themaillot
jaune.

“Personally, it’s quite difficult for me,” said Roche. “This was
a massive opportunity for me for a stage win. Over the last few Tours I’ve been
riding as a domestiqueand winning a TTT is something
very particular, something you work at. There’s no luck, it’s all about
sticking together and being there. It’s something that I really dreamed of, so
it’s a bit of a tough one. But looking at the bigger picture, Froomey is in top
shape, we kept the jersey, we’re in contention and we’re really ready to be in
the mountains now.”

“Team time trials are usually held on stage four or five of
Grand Tours; UCI rules decree they “shall take place during the first third of
the race” in order to give teams as fair a chance as possible of fielding a
full-strength line-up in a discipline where the time of the fifth man to cross
the finishing line is the one recorded.
Including rest days this year’sLe
Tour is already nine days into a total of 23, on the ninth stage of 21 in an
event where 40% of the total distance has already been completed.

Orica GreenEdge suffered most from the anomalous scheduling
having lost Michael Albasini, Simon Gerrans and Daryl Impey to injury in the
opening week while their Tour debutant, Michael Matthews, struggles on with
damaged ribs that continue to restrict his ability to breathe. He was nursed
through this stage by his remaining team-mates without having to do a tow in
front.

On a course that finished with a tough climb up the 1.7km Côte
de Cadoudal, Contador came off worst of the trio; his Tinkoff-Saxo team
finished 28 seconds behind the eventual winners. BMC posted a time of 32min
15sec, which Sky only just failed to match.

With Froome, Geraint Thomas, Leopold König, Richie Porte, Wouter
Poels and Roche tasked with closing out the stage after Peter Kennaugh, Ian
Stannard and Luke Rowe had exhausted themselves on the flat, Poels hoisted the
white flag at the bottom of the ascent and, of the remaining quintet, Roche was
found ever so slightly wanting in the closing metres.

“We really can’t be too disappointed with that,” said Froome.
“For everyone’s morale it would’ve been fantastic to have been able to get the
stage win today, but more importantly we’ve kept the yellow jersey, we’ve put
time into most of our rivals. We’ve got to be happy with that. “It’s one thing not to lose any time to your
rivals, but to actually gain quite substantial amounts on quite a lot of
contenders – it’s put us in a fantastic position. Some other rivals – Nibali,
Quintana – they’ve both lost quite a substantial amount of time already so the
pressure’s definitely on them to attack once we go into the mountains,” said
Froome. “It’s for the other guys to get the yellow jersey from me now.”

From the Telegraph: The Top 50 Road Cyclists in Pictures

Belgian pin-up and all-round demi-God, Boonen is, like Cancellara: nails. Four times a winner of Paris-Roubaix, three times the Tour of Flanders, world road race champion, Tour de France green jersey winner. He has twice tested positive for cocaine, though.

5. Sir Bradley Wiggins
What's left to say about Britain's knight rider that hasn't already been said? Not a prolific winner on the road but a winner of big races. The first Briton to win the Tour de France and an Olympic and world time trial champion too. Would be higher if his track victories counted.

9. Tony Martin
Three times a world time trial champion - a discipline in which he took Olympic silver behind Wiggins in 2012 - Martin goes by the moniker Der Panzerwgen for the way he sweeps all before him.

Wiggins 10-mile Time-Trial set-up

From Cycling Weekly

Having
moved from Sky to his own, eponymous team in mid-April Wiggins is now
riding a SRAM groupset and Zipp wheels.

Having
switched from electronic Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 to mechanical SRAM Red, Wiggins
benefits from the extra few centimetres of reach afforded by the mechanical
levers on the aero bars to get further over the bottom bracket. The cockpit
set-up, however, remains the same as his previous bikes when riding for Team
Sky and Great Britain.

A
SRAM chain-catcher stops the chain from slipping when shifting down to the
44-tooth inner chainring, an outcome made more likely due to the big drop down
from a 58-tooth big ring. That said, on a flat dual carriageway course like the
A63, it’s unlikely that Wiggins shifted out of the big ring at all.

These
new aerodynamic Speedplay pedals are one-sided with a golf ball pattern that
extends onto the underside of the tplates, looking to take advantage of the
boundary layer effect of the dimples to reduce aerodynamic drag.Wind tunnel tested, the Zero Aero pedals
debuted at Eurobike in 2014 and will be available to buy later this year.

Wiggins
has swapped his usual Kask Bambino for a brand-new, custom gold UKSI helmet, as
worn by athletes in the 2012 Olympics and by Wiggins himself at that year’s
Olympic time trial and again at the 2013 World Champs. It is likely he’ll wear
the same helmet for his attempt at the Hour record in 10 days’ time.

Inside the Sprint Finish: Stage 5: Tour de Suisse

Contador disappointment in Giro d' Italia

Cycling
legend Alberto Contador's attempt to become the first rider since Marco Pantani
in 1998 to complete the Giro d'Italia-Tour de France double was dealt a severe
blow on Thursday after the Spaniard fell heavily towards the end of the sixth
stage from Montecatini Terme to Castiglione Della Pescaia.

Marco
Pantani died in 2004 aged just 34 of acute cocaine poisoning after a period of depression
when he had been the subject of doping allegations.

After
wresting the leader'smaglia rosafrom Simon Clarke
on Wednesday, the Tinkoff-Saxo leader joked that he had not expected to lead to
race so early saying that hopefully it was "just a taste of what is to
come". However, after crashing in the final straight of Thursday's stage,
won by André Greipel, Contador's Giro could now be over before the end of the
first week.

Minutes
after the crash, Contador's team tweeted that their leader was "involved in
the crash in the final sprint" while confirming that he "crossed the
finish line maintaining the lead".

Despite
retaining his 2 second lead over Fabio Aru in the general classification,
Contador was unable to put on his newmaglia rosaon the podium
suffering with what appeared to be a collarbone injury.

Stefano Feltrin the Tinkoff-Saxo general manager, later confirmed that the team would
be "assessing the nature of Alberto's injuries with the team doctor"
while a decision on whether he would continue the three-week race woul be made
on Friday morning.

"He
is being treated with ice as a precaution. We will need to reassess his
condition in the morning," Feltrin added.

Later
in the evening Contador confirmed that he had dislocated his left shoulder in
the crash and hope to continue racing on Friday.

Shocking Crash for Domenico Pozzovivo in Giro d'Italia

Updated 11th May 2015

DP himself has since
spoken from hospital saying he remembers nothing about the crash.

The
32-year-old finished fifth overall in last year's race.

"In
a stage like this, anything can happen around any corner, like it did with the
crash of Pozzovivo," said Etixx - Quick Step's Rigoberto Uran.

"I
saw him crash in front of me. I hope that it is nothing serious, and I wish him
all the best."

Pozzovivo,
seen as one of the contenders in the general classification, hit the ground
head first with about 40km (24.9 miles) left in the 136km (84.5-mile) race
between Rapallo and Sestri Levante.

As
television cameras zoomed in on Pozzovivo when he lay prone on the ground,
Britain's 2013 Tour de France championChris Froome tweeted:"Is it really necessary to show
these images of Pozzovivo at the #Giro2015? Have some respect for the rider and
his family!"

Updated 10th May 2015

The
Italian rider Domenico Pozzovivo is “conscious and lucid” after being carried
away lying motionless on a stretcher following a crash during a descent during
the third stage of the Giro d’Italia.

Pozzovivo who has a
degree in economics and wrote athesis entitled "Southern
politics from the unity of Italy up to now" is not very well. His high
education has earned him the nickname "Dr. Pozzovivo" in the peloton.

“According to the race doctor,
Pozzovivo has been evacuated conscious and lucid,” the French team AG2R-La
Mondiale said on their Twitter feed.

Pozzovivo, one of the contenders for
a podium finish, hit the ground head first with about 40km left in the 136km
ride between Rapallo and Sestri Levante.

The
32-year-old, fifth overall in last year’s race, was put in an ambulance wearing
a neck brace and wrapped in a survival blanket.

In 2008, Pozzovivo
finished on the third step of the podium of the Giro De Trentino, which had a
race categorization of 2.1. The first
place went toNibali whileGarenzelli took the second
place.He then participated in
his thirdGiro. While he was not
considered a favourite for the overall rankings prior to the race,he
managed to finish in ninth position of the general classification.He notably took the second position on the15tha mountain affair finishing atop the Category 1 Passo Fedaia, which was
featured for the first time in Giro history. He was bested only by his
team-mateSella who eventually tested positive for blood doping and was later
disqualified.

Wiggins will fight to attack at Tour de Yorkshire

Updated 2nd May 2015

Wiggins
is among 144 riders in the three-day race, which starts with Friday's 174km
stage from Bridlington to Scarborough. "I'm
not coming here trying to win this," said Wiggins. "But I feel
liberated. I can have a go." He
loves Yorkshire.

Saturday's
174km second stage runs from Selby to York, with Sunday's 167km finale from
Wakefield to Leeds. Wiggins, the
reigningis competing for his
newly-formed Team Wiggins. "I'm
coming here to do a job for the younger guys in my team who are really up for
it," said the former bearded Team Sky rider.

The
35-year-old Englishman, winner of the Tour de France and four Olympic and six
world track titles, added: "I'm perhaps not the Wiggo of 2012, oh no, I
drink, smoke and eat at expensive restaurants, I'm 10 kilos heavier with a doppy beard."

Race organiser Gary Verity said
fans should turn out to "salute one of our nation's greatest
champions", adding: "You are coming to see a piece of history so
bring the kids and grandkids." The
Tour de Yorkshire, from 1-3 May, is likely to be one of his last on the road as
he switches focus to trying to break the legendary hour record on 7 June and
then qualifying for the British Olympic track team for Rio 2016.

Sixteen
teams, made up of eight riders, will compete in the race, which was born out of
the success of last year's Tour de France Grand Depart.

Is Scotland on the road to becoming a 'cycle-friendly' country?

Thousands of
people are due to converge on Holyrood for the fourth annual Pedal on
Parliament event in Edinburgh this weekend. Those taking part will be calling for improved
facilities and safer roads for both cyclists and pedestrians.

But is Scotland moving forward? Are they on the road to
becoming a cycle-friendly country?

"Funding
has increased from central and local government, mainly through match funding
programmes like the Community Links partnership run by Sustrans. Some local authorities are
committed to 20mph, design of infrastructure is improving and programmes
delivering training and awareness of walking and cycling are more
sophisticated.

"Cycling is increasingly
part of strategic planning and is recognised as a way to improve people's
health. We are meeting ministers
and national politicians much more easily than before and they are sympathetic.

"There are lots of
positives, but we are only at the beginning of a journey toward a nation where
short trips are easily made by foot and bicycle.""Scotland
has enormous potential for increasing the number of people walking and cycling,
leading to better health and wellbeing for everyone in our country."Cities like Edinburgh have
shown that with political leadership and sustained investment you can achieve a
significant increase in the number of people choosing to walk and cycle."No parent wants their child
to share the road with HGVs, buses and fast moving motorised vehicles. "That's why I'll be at Pedal
on Parliament with my family asking our political leaders for the resources and
determination needed to change our streets into places that put people
first."

"Cycling
is becoming an everyday activity for more people of all ages and abilities. Inverness and Edinburgh
regularly have 1 in 10 journeys to work by bike. 38% of primary schools
offer Bikeability Scotland on-road cycle training, up from 32% just three years
ago thanks to Transport Scotland funding.

"Midlothian provides
training in 87% of schools and East Renfrewshire in 100% of schools.

"The figures show it is
possible to increase cycling in communities anywhere in Scotland but there is
clearly much more to be done."

"As
a grassroots campaign group, Pedal on Parliament (Pop) has opened up
campaigning beyond "cyclists" to everyone wanting safer roads, a
healthier population, and cleaner air.

"We're the first national
campaign to call for infrastructure protecting cyclists from motor vehicles,
but which doesn't take space away from pedestrians.

"Since Pop started, active
travel funding has stopped falling, but is still just 2% of the transport
budget.

"To meet the government's
goal of 10% of journeys by bike by 2020, we need 5 times that investment, and a
long-term commitment to spending it on quality infrastructure." But is Scotland moving forward?

Tiernan-Locke tells Plymouth Herald of his Bender Mistake in 2012

Updated 22nd April 2015

Jonathan Tiernan-Locke says he wants
to return to professional racing when his two-year doping ban expires at the
end of December. The former Team Sky
rider, who continues to protest his innocence, is confident he can return at
the level he was at in 2012 when he won his Tour of Britain title.
Tiernan-Locke insists that he won that race “fair and square”.

The Devon-born rider, now 30, stripped of his title after an anomalous
biological passport reading from September 2012, just before he signed
for Sir Dave Brailsford’s team will feel tainted.

Tiernan-Locke claimed that the
reading was caused by dehydration after a massive bender in Bristol, an
explanation rejected by UK Anti-Doping. He decided against appealing to the
Court of Arbitration for Sport saying he could not afford to do so.

Last autumn Tiernan-Locke said he was “50-50” about a
comeback, but he now says he has set his sights on a return to the domestic
scene at least and claims he has had “a bit of interest already”. He’s been passing time riding horses.

"I've no doubt that I can get back to the level I was
riding at in 2012,” Tiernan-Locke told the Torquay Herald Express. "I also
believe I can make myself a more complete rider than before.

"If I can do the top UK, Premier Calendar races and,
say, UCI 2.2-level events, and pick up wins, that would be great.

"And I'd like to have a proper crack at the National
Road Race Championships, where I've never done as well as I've wanted in the
past."

Tiernan-Locke added that he felt he had “a point to
prove”.

"I am not an angry person, someone who carries that
sort of emotion around with me,” he said. "I did say at one point that I
was never going to race again, and I am going back on that.

"But they say 'never say never', and the anger I felt
has gone now. If I win a race, it's not like I'm going to stick two fingers up
in the air at anyone.

"I know I won that [2012 Tour of Britain title] fair
and square – I've got the photos and I still have the jersey.

"I know, and my Endura Racing teammates know, what we
put into the race, and into others.

"I am excited about racing again, and I think I can
be a better rider than I have ever been before."

Geraint Thomas Big Win

Updated 28th March 2015

Geraint Thomas soloed to the biggest road win of his
professional career on Friday, riding away from a select group in the final 4km
of E3 Harelbeke to become the first ever British winner of the Belgian
semi-classic and in the process raise hopes that he might challenge at one or
both of the forthcoming monuments, the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.

Thomas, the two-time Olympic team pursuit champion, has
always threatened to achieve lift-off in his road career without ever quite
managing to do so, partly because of injury, partly due to his traditional role
as super domestique for the likes of Sir Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome, and
partly because it has never quite been clear whether the Welshman is a better
stage racer or classics rider.

Just two weeks ago, the 28-year-old was one of the
strongest climbers at Paris-Nice, while he hinted at his grand tour potential
following Froome’s untimely exit from last summer’s Tour de France.

There is no doubting Thomas’s strength in the one-day
classics. The reigning Commonwealth Games road race champion finished in the
top 10 at both Flanders and Roubaix 12 months ago and must be considered a real
challenger this time around after riding clear of the peloton on the Oude
Kwaremont yesterday and then dropping fellow breakaway companions Zdenek Stybar
(Etixx-QuickStep) and defending champion Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) with 4km
remaining.

“I can’t quite believe it,” he said afterwards. “That last
attack took me back to my track days and I imagined I was trying to hold Ed
Clancy’s wheel in the team pursuit. I felt pretty good during the second half
of the race and committed at the end.

“It was hard out there. The three of us worked well
together and I wasn’t sure if they were bluffing a bit near the end – panting
and pulling faces – but fortunately they weren’t, and it was great for me.

“This six-week period we’re in from Paris-Nice to
Paris-Roubaix is my big focus of the season. The way Paris-Nice finished was
disappointing, but I felt good again at Milan-San Remo [where he led the field
over the last climb], and to get the win now is really special.”

On a remarkable afternoon for Team Sky, Ben Swift also
claimed victory on stage two at Settimana Coppi e Bartali to move into the race
lead, and Richie Porte, the UCI’s No?1-ranked WorldTour rider, seized the overall lead at the Volta a
Catalunya.

With Ian Stannard claiming last month’s Omloop Het
Nieuwsblad, Luke Rowe in fine fettle, and Wiggins targeting Paris-Roubaix in
his final race for Team Sky, the British squad are enjoying easily the best
classics season of their short history and appear to have plenty of options.
Next up is Gent-Wevelgem tomorrow, and then Flanders (April 5) and Roubaix
(April 12).

Nor will they have to worry about one-day specialist
Fabian Cancellara (Trek) whose classics season is over. The Swiss suffered two
fractured vertebrae in a crash during Friday’s E3 Harelbeke.

Tour of Britain 2015: Brutal Route

Tour of Britain organisers are hopeful that Wiggins will ride in the race this
September with his new road team WIGGINS, despite the 34-year-old switching his
attention as of this summer from road to track, with the aim of ending his
career with team pursuit gold at Rio 2016.

A “brutish” 2015 route, which begins on Sept 6 on Anglesey
and finishes in London on Sept 13, was officially unveiled on Tuesday night at
Wembley Stadium.

Race director Mick Bennett said that he had noted feedback
from the Tour last year, which riders described as the “hardest ever”, by
coming up with an even tougher proposition. At just over 900 miles, it will be
the longest contemporary edition of the race.

“It did not escape people’s notice that the most
successful riders at last year’s world road race championships in Ponferrada –
Michal Kwiatkowski in the road race, Brad Wiggins in the time trial – competed
at the Tour of Britain rather than the Vuelta a Espana,” Bennett said. “The
kickback publicity from that has been excellent and we are hopeful of having
another high-class turnout this year.”

Asked whether he expected Wiggins to return, Bennett, who
won team pursuit bronze at the 1972 Olympics in Munich and again in Montreal in
1976, said he saw no reason why not. “Stage racing is excellent preparation for
endurance riders,” he argued.

Twenty teams of six riders – one of which is likely to be
the England cricketer Matt Prior’s new outfit ONE Pro Cycling – will tackle
this year’s route, which should feature “two or three” sprint stages to entice
the likes of Mark Cavendish.

“The second stage from Clitheroe to Colne is like a
mini-Ardennes classic,” Bennett said. “The summit finish to stage five on
Hartside Fell is a brute, while for me the hardest stage will be stage six from
Stoke-on-Trent to Nottingham, taking in the Peak District. That will be leg-sapping.

“It’s perfect race preparation for this year’s world road
race championships [in Richmond, Virginia]. “It’s just the right distance, with
a week’s break in between, to prepare.”

The final stage, involving 15 laps of a 3.8-mile circuit
around central London, will start and finish on Regent Street, taking in
Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, the Strand and Whitehall.

The race starts on an island for the first time with a
first Welsh Grand Depart which goes through all six North Wales regions. The
route includes the climb of Pen-y-Pass but is likely to finish in a sprint.

Stage Two: Monday, September 7
Clitheroe to Colne (162km)

The first Lancashire stage since 2010 will be enjoyable
for spectators – it will be feasible for one roadside fan to watch the peloton
go by in around four different locations on the day – but challenging for the
riders, with the Nick O’Pendle climb a highlight.

Skirting the Lake District and the Solway Firth, the
peloton will ride through Dumfries and Galloway and finish at the home of the
Duke of Roxburghe, the largest inhabited castle in the UK. The sprinters are
expected to be vying for victory.

Stage Four: Wednesday, September 9
Edinburgh to Blyth (218km)

The modern tour, reborn in 2004, will visit Edinburgh for
the first time with a start at Holyrood Palace. The route will travel south along
the coast into Northumberland, where winds could make the finale interesting
and create costly time splits.

Stage Five: Thursday, September 10
Prudhoe to Hartside Fell (171km)

Hadrian's Wall is followed for much of the stage before
the brutal concluding climb of Hartside Fell. At 1,904 feet (575 metres), the
8km climb, which averages five per cent with sections at over 10 per cent, is
almost 100-metres higher than the 2014 summit finish on the Tumble in South
Wales.

Stage Six: Friday, September 11
Stoke-on-Trent to Nottingham (189km)

Tour race director Mick Bennett believes the Peak District
stage is the race's hardest and “completely leg sapping”. The stage finishes on
the Recreation Ground in Nottingham, a venue with cycling history.

Stage Seven: Saturday, September 12
Fakenham to Ipswich (225km)

There is no respite. Wind could wreak havoc on proceedings
on the penultimate day, with whoever is in possession of the race lead needing
to be on high alert for the longest stage of the race.

Stage Eight: Saturday, September 13
London (93km as 15 laps of a 6.2km route)

Wiggins to Time Trial History

Updated 26th September 2014

T

he
world time trial title has been one of Bradley Wiggins’ targets since 2005,
well before he began to contemplate victory in the Tour de France and became a
knight of the realm. There has been frustration along the way, but in his last
tilt at the title in Ponferrada, north-west Spain, he at last wrestled the
monkey from his back, in decisive style, winning by 26 seconds from the
favourite and defending champion, Tony Martin of Germany. If this is indeed his
final appearance on the road at a major championship – he will not defend the
title or ride the time trial in Rio – it was a fitting swansong.

This
was the only remaining blank in Wiggins’ personal hit-list, and it sits neatly
alongside his Olympic gold medal in the discipline, six world track titles in
the pursuit and Madison, three Olympic track golds and the Tour. His rainbow
jersey came 20 years after Chris Boardman won the inaugural title in Sicily,
and David Millar’s disqualification from the title in 2003 makes him only the
second Briton to achieve the honour. It also raises – in the background – fresh
questions about Sir Dave Brailsford’s controversial decision to leave him out
of the Tour de France this year due to the possibility of conflict with Chris
Froome.

That
question remains moot because of the numbers: Wiggins said after pulling on the
rainbow jersey that he had hit his Tour form in order to win in Spain, and he
was managing power outputs that resemble those he managed during the 2012 Tour
win. On the other hand, he pointed out that his exclusion from the Tour
probably helped him win this title, as he ended the season fresh in mind and
body after just 36 days of racing, and the work he did on the track before the
Commonwealth Games als played its part.

Geraint Thomas to Stay with Sky

Updated 28th July

2014

Geraint Thomas has signed a new
two-year deal with Team Sky that will run until the end of 2016.

The
versatile Welshman has become an important part of the team since joining in
2010 and produced some impressive rides in this year’s Tour de France as he
eventually placed 22nd.

Last year he helped
Chris Froome clinch Team Sky’s second consecutive yellow jersey in the Tour de
France.

Thomas,
one of eight British riders at the team, said: “I’m really happy to be staying
with Team Sky for another two years. I’ve been here since the start and I
firmly believe it is the best place for me to fulfil my potential as a bike
rider.

“I feel
very supported here and I’m excited about what the future holds. I’ll look
forward to challenging myself both on and off the bike and striving to become
the very best at what I do.”

Thomas, a two-time Olympic track cycling gold medallist in the
team pursuit, has committed himself to the road in the last couple of years and
the Team Sky principal, Sir Dave Brailsford, is delighted he is to stay. Brailsford
said: “We’re delighted that Geraint has re-signed for another two years. He’s
been with Team Sky from the start and has been essential to the success that
we’ve had. “Team
Sky has always been built around a strong British core, developing and
nurturing home-grown talent to be the best they can be – and Geraint has been
at the heart of that.

“On and
off the bike Geraint is an influential member of Team Sky. Not only is he a
strong character but he’s one of a handful of world-class riders that can do it
all, whether that’s on the climbs, flat, cobbles or time trials, which proves
what a valuable member of the team he is.

“Over
the last three weeks of the Tour de France Geraint has again underlined his
qualities and has shown that he’s an exceptional rider with an exciting future.

“He’s a
great guy, a good leader and we’re delighted that he’ll be a key part of the
team going forward.”

French Riders Poised to Podium

Updated 21st July

2014

If the front page of L’Équipe is
any reflection of the mood of the French sporting public, it is fair to say the
locals are getting a little bit excité.

For five days now, the famous sports
daily has splashed on the exploits of a trio of Frenchmen of whom you are
unlikely to have heard: Thibaut Pinot, Jean-Christophe Péraud and Romain
Bardet. On their shoulders rest the hopes of a nation.

It has been 29 long years since
Bernard Hinault won his fifth and final maillot jaune in 1985, and 17 years
since Richard Virenque became the last French rider even to make the podium of
the biggest bike race on earth.

The TdF is to France what Wimbledon
is to the British; an institution, a national treasure, the envy of the world.

French failure in the last quarter of
a century has been a source of national despair, one that Sir Dave Brailsford,
Team Sky’s principal, controversially offered to help rid them of a couple of
weeks ago. All the signs are, following a fascinating 16th stage on Tuesday
from Carcassonne to Bagnères-de-Luchon in the Pyrenees, that that dismal record
is going to change come Paris on Sunday.

Pinot (FDJ) and Péraud (AG2R)
finished in the yellow jersey group, 8min??32sec behind stage winner Michael Rogers (Tinkoff-Saxo) but crucially
nearly four minutes ahead of American Tejay van Garderen (BMC) who was dropped
early on the final hors catégorie Port de Balès.

Bardet (AG2R) also gained nearly two
minutes on Van Garderen, although he dropped behind both of his compatriots in
the general classification. No matter, Pinot, Péraud and Bardet now lie third,
fourth and fifth respectively on GC, the last of them with a cushion of almost
three minutes over Van Garderen in sixth place. That is significant as the
American – as his initials “TVG” almost suggest – is useful against the clock,
and will likely win back time in the long, 50km (31-mile), penultimate-stage
time trial on Saturday.

Yorkshire 2014 Le Grand Depart Minus SirBW

Updated 19th June

2014

The talk building up to grand
départ in Yorkshire has revolved around a man who will not even be
riding. Rightly or wrongly, the fortunes
of Wiggo have been intertwined with our nation’s new obsession with cycling.
The Olympic titles were one thing. Plenty of British riders have tasted success
on the boards. It was the transfer of that success from track to road,
culminating in ‘SBW’ becoming the first Briton to win the Tour in 2012 that
created a star. His return to these shores in a blaze of glory at the height of
Games fever, to win the Olympic time trial title a few days later, before
sitting on that fake throne with his mod sideburns and his surly attitude,
created an icon.

So Wiggins has proved himself moody
and difficult since then. So what? He is box office gold and, what is more, he
still has a huge engine. Hardly surprising, then, that his exclusion from Team
Sky’s nine-man line-up provoked such a response from the public.

Hardcore cycling fans tend to get
upset about such controversies, complaining that their sport has been hijacked
by arrivistes, but the British public surely deserve a voice when the opening
three stages of the race take place on UK soil and an estimated six million
people are expected to watch it live, with millions more on television.

Let’s face it, Wiggins was a major
factor behind the organisers ASO’s decision to award the Grand Départ to
Yorkshire in Dec 2012 in the first place.

Whether Sir Dave Brailsford and the
rest of Team Sky’s selection committee were right or wrong to exclude him, it
hardly matters any more. As Brailsford pointed out on Friday when unveiling his
squad, it is not his job to placate fans or organisers. His job is to win races
and he feels he has picked the best team for the job. Incidentally, it was also
part of Team Sky’s mission statement to promote British talent but it is
probably overly harsh to castigate them on those grounds given what they have
done for Wiggins’ career (Pete Kennaugh’s absence is worse in that respect,
although his season has been affected by injury).

Wiggins’ role now is as Banquo’s
ghost, hanging over Team Sky. As Bernard Hinault surmised this week,
Brailsford’s reputation rather hangs in the balance on this one. “Sky were
scared to have two leaders,” the five-time champion said. “This is a team
problem, and only they can determine their strategy. If Sky is sure that Froome
will win the Tour, I am in agreement with the decision. But if he finishes
second, it would have been a bad strategy by them.”

All the talk of Wiggins is rather
tough on Froome, the Kenyan-born, South African-educated rider who won last
year’s centennial Tour in such fine style but who has struggled for popularity
in this country, partly owing to the fallout with Wiggins, partly his reserved
manner, partly perhaps the Kevin Pietersen syndrome; he is not seen as a real
Brit.

In person, Froome is polite and
charming and clearly possessed of an inner steel. How far he pushed to have
Wiggins excluded is a moot point but his recent autobiography revealed that he
was not afraid to back himself.

Froome’s major fears are likely to
revolve around stage five, which takes in part of the cobbled Paris-Roubaix
route. The Tour’s trips over the cobbles have tended to eliminate one of the
general classification contenders. Frank Schleck crashed out in 2010, Iban Mayo
crashed on them in 2004 and while Bernard Hinault rode over them to victory in
Lille in 1980, he exacerbated an underlying knee issue and later abandoned.

If Froome survives that, however, and
gets into the mountains in decent shape, we could be served up a battle royale
with Tinkoff-Saxo’s Alberto Contador. Watching them size each other up at the
Critérium du Dauphiné made for compelling viewing, Froome edging the early part
of the week without ever dominating his rival, the Spaniard coming on strong at
the end but only after Froome had crashed.

If Froome can stay with Contador in
the mountains, and reach the penultimat-day time trial in the same vicinity, he
will already be tasting that champagne on the road into Paris. With no Nairo
Quintana this year, it is difficult to imagine Vincenzo Nibali or an Andrew
Talansky challenging for the general classification.

Elsewhere, it will be interesting to
see how Geraint Thomas goes after he rode the whole of last year’s Tour with a
fractured pelvis. We may know better by the end of next month whether he really
is the future champion Team Sky believe him to be.

But it is not all about the general
classification. Mark Cavendish’s battle with Marcel Kittel and André Greipel is
in many respects even more mouth-watering than that between Froome and
Contador. This is a battle to hang onto Cavendish’s status as the fastest man
in the world. The winner of 25 Tour stages, there was a sense last year that Cavendish’s
days were numbered with Kittel the rising force. The two have hardly raced each
other this year, save for Dubai where Cavendish’s Omega Pharma-Quick-Step team
were still working on a new sprint train.

Can Cavendish reassert himself? He
has said virtually nothing in the build-up, which has only added to the
suspense, but he has been open about the fact that he has based his entire
season around winning stage one next Saturday, which ends in his mother’s home
town of Harrogate. What a victory that would be, putting Cavendish in yellow
for the first time in his career on a bruising second stage from York to
Sheffield, ahead of stage three from Cambridge to London. It is sometimes easy
to forget that the Tour actually comes to the capital.

Paris, France : Self-Service Rental Bikes for Kids

Updated 19th June

2014

France notched up another cycling
landmark, the world's first self-service city rental bike for kids. City authorities in Paris have decided that
their widely imitated Velib rental bike program is so popular it should be
extended to children as young as two.

On
Wednesday, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo launched P'tit Velib, which offers four
sizes of cycle in five leafy off-road locations across the city. "Because good habits begin early, the
mayor of Paris wishes to familiarize children with using more environmentally
friendly modes of transport, and from a young age," theP'tit Velib websitesays.

Nadhera
Beletreche, a spokeswoman for the mayor's office, said the plan was the first
of its kind anywhere.

Velib
was launched in July 2007 and now claims to have more than 20,000 of its chunky
gray bikes available from 1,800 docking stations around Paris. The service, which offers half an hour of
free riding followed by incremental charges, was reportedly used to make 130
million trips in its first five years.

Although
Velib followed numerous earlier bike-sharing and rental plans, it grew to
become one of the world's most successful.
The model of using corporate sponsorship and computerized docking
stations has been imitated by other cities such as London.

The
new children's bikes designed with the same gray stylings as their adult
counterparts are available to rent in the Bois de Boulogne near the Porte La
Muette and the Rond-Point du Jardin d'Acclimitation, the Ourcq Canal, the Bois
de Vincennes and the banks of the Seine, between the Pont des Invalides and the
Pont De l'Alma.

Rental
rates start at €4 ($5.40). Further
locations are expected to open later in the year.

Tour of Switzerland - Time, Cheese, Chocolate and Francs

Updated 17th June

2014

British cyclist Wiggins finished more than two minutes down on the leaders in the third stage of the Tour of Switzerland on Monday, prompting suggestions that his training programme in recent weeks may have hurt his form and cost him any small chance he had of making Team Sky’s Tour de France team.

Wiggins was initially picked to lead Team Sky in Switzerland, with Sir Dave Brailsford, the team principal, adamant that the 34-year-old was still in with a chance of making his nine-man squad for the Tour next month.

However, an average time trial on Saturday, by Wiggins’s standards, suggested the 2012 Tour champion was not at his best. And Monday’s stage effectively ended Wiggins’s general classification aspirations. He will now "focus on the time trial on Friday whilst helping the other guys as much as possible", according to Team Sky sports director Dan Frost.

Wiggins caused an outcry two weeks ago by revealing that he had spoken with Brailsford and had been left with the impression that he would not be going to the Tour de France unless Chris Froome got injured. He added that he had been given the "option" of focusing on the Commonwealth Games later this summer instead.

Wiggins told the Dutch newspaper Brabants Dagblad before the start of Monday’s stage that he would have been better prepared had he not been training on the track in recent weeks.

The World Anti-Doping Agency said on Monday that it was "satisfied" that cycling’s governing body the UCI followed the correct protocol when granting Froome a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) for the oral use of glucocorticosteroids prior to the Tour of Romandy in April.

However, Wada has appealed for stronger sentences against three of Lance Armstrong’s accomplices in cases which will now be heard by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The American Arbitration Association in April banned Johan Bruyneel, Armstrong’s long-time team director, for 10 years and gave eight-year bans to doctor Pedro Celaya and trainer Jose 'Pepe' Marti for their roles in helping the American to cheat his way to seven Tour de France title

Sky's Big Question: Who Supports Froome

Updated 4th June

2014

When ruffled haired moody Sir Bradley
Wiggins pulled out of the Giro d’Italia last year with a knee injury, whatever
the short?term disappointment for Wiggins and Sky, it solved an issue: should
the 2012 Tour de France winner ride alongside Chris Froome at the Tour de
France and if so, on what basis?

The question was only postponed for 12 months or so,
however, and it has become the big one for Sir Dave Brailsford as the 2014 Tour
draws near. Brailsford is bound to have a solid idea of most of the eight
support riders who will back Froome at the Tour: the chances are they are the
seven who will race the Criterium du Dauphine.
For the past three years, Sky have used the Dauphiné as the main dress
rehearsal for the Tour de France, and there is no reason to change a winning
formula.

Wiggins is not at the Dauphiné, which
can be interpreted in two ways. One is that Brailsford doesn’t want to risk
riding him alongside Froome. The other is that his putting Wiggins in the Tour
of Switzerland makes sense, because it is a race he can win without sideburns,
and its slightly later date gives him more time to recover from body-clock
disruption after the Tour of California.

There are several others in the mix: Wiggins for one,
Peter Kennaugh perhaps, or Bernhard Eisel, one of the betterdomestiqueswhen it comes to positioning a leader
at the front, who can be expected to show strongly on the tricky cobbled stage
into Roubaix. Sky may even gamble on Sergio Henao if he is cleared to race
after an investigation into anomalous blood test results.

Brailsford knows that it would be
madness to announce Sky’s Tour squad early, merely to damp down debate. With
the Dauphiné, Tour of Switzerland and Route du Sud still to come, crashes or
illness can still force changes to the squad. He leaves selections late, which
has the added bonus of keeping his athletes hungry.

This is not new territory for
Brailsford – Jason Kenny ahead of Chris Hoy for the London Olympic match sprint
being the most celebrated call he has made to date – and he selects in a
certain way. On past form, emotion will not come into it; the decision will be
made on performance grounds. He has also experienced a Tour with two leaders
before – 2012, when the world champion Mark Cavendish rode – and it was not a
happy experience.

The argument that you should include
a past Tour winner out of respect for him and for the institution can be
discounted: those are emotional reasons. Having Wiggins would be good PR,
admittedly, but losing the Tour because of internal discord would undo that.
You don’t select someone simply to keep them happy, or because you have a long
and fruitful working relationship with them, as Brailsford has with Wiggins.

The questions going around the Sky
head’s mind could include these: putting aside Wiggins’s obvious box-office
appeal in a Tour that starts on British soil – emotion again – what will he
bring to a team centred on Froome that Bernhard Eisel or Vasil Kiriyenka will
not? Given the troubles between him and Froome in the past, is there the
slightest risk that Wiggins’s presence in the team will be disruptive, no
matter how honourable his intentions and how many times he says he is there to
work for Froome?

If Wiggins offers no more as a team?mate
than one of the others, the main argument for including him is that in the
Tour, anything can happen, and a crash or an ill-timed puncture – like the one
that did for Alejandro Valverde last year – is as likely to happen to Froome as
anyone else. Having a No2 of Wiggins’s experience, who can step in if required,
could be sensible insurance, particularly when that No2 is a former Tour winner
who will divert some of the media attention.

Taking that Froome has said he feels Richie Porte can fill
the role, the tide seems to be running against Wiggins.

26 Years of Hurt Over: Youthful Talent Wins Giro for Colombia

Updated 1st June

2014

Colombia can, after a 26-year wait, celebrate a grand tour
victory once again after Nairo Quintana became the country's first winner of
the Giroon
Sunday, three weeks after the riders set out from Belfast.

With defending champion Vincenzo Nibali missing from this
year's race, Quintana started the 97th edition of the Giro as the bookmakers'
favourite and while his victory will have surprised few, Colombia's domination
of the race may have.

Colombian riders' three jerseys – the overall, mountains
and young rider – and four individual stages may have stirred memories of the
Café de Colombia team of the 1980s, but many have argued that the current crop
of Colombians are "the strongest generation yet".

Unlike Café de Colombia, whose Luis Herrera made history
in 1987 when he became the first, and until Sunday, only Colombian to win a
grand tour after triumphing in that year's Vuelta a España, the new generation
are not only based in Europe but also ride in European teams.

Urán (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), Carlos Betancur (Ag2r-La
Mondiale) and Sergio Henao (Team Sky) have all been knocking on the door for
the past few seasons, but it was Quintana at last year's Tour de France who
made people prick up their ears before, in the last week, the 59kg climbing
specialist kicked the door wide open.

With the Giro heading towards the hills, the first general
classification shake-up saw Michael Matthews's grip on themaglia rosaloosen as Australian compatriot
Cadel Evans climbed to the top of the standings where he spent four days in
pink.

A strong individual time trial from Urán during stage 12,
though, saw the Omega Pharma-Quick Step rider take themaglia rosaoff Evans before losing it in
controversial circumstances four days later.

After starting the day with a 2min 40sec advantage over
Quintana who, after suffering with a cold had climbed to fifth in general
classification, Urán conceded hismaglia
rosato the Movistar rider.
Quintana had gained around two minutes between the summit of the Passo dell
Stelvio which had been, briefly, neutralised by race organisers, and the foot
of the Val Martello.

Quintana went on to win the stage on the final climb of
the day, the Val Martello, while increasing his lead over Urán to 1min 41sec
and taking his firstmaglia
rosa.

The controversy that followed saw Urán's general manager
Patrick Lefevere call for Mauro Vegni, the technical manager at RCS Sport, the
company that organises the Giro, to resign. Many argued that Quintana should
not have benefited from the confusion and, indeed, some teams wanted to see him
docked some time, a situation that threatened to overshadow the entire race.

However, if there was any debate about who was the
strongest rider at this year's Giro it was ended by Quintana during the 26.8km
individual time trial from Bassano del Grappa to Cima Grappa during stage 19.

On his favoured terrain – uphill and steep – Quintana put
a further 1min 26sec into Urán. After finishing the penultimate stage on the
summit finish of the Monte Zoncolan alongside Urán to retain his 3min 7sec
advantage Quintana all but sealed a famous win for Colombia cycling.

"It's very difficult to explain how much happiness is
inside of me," Quintana said following the 171-kilometre final stage from
Gemona to Trieste that was won by Slovenian sprinter Luka Mezgec. "This is
one of the happiest days of my life. Thank you to my family, thank you to my
team and to all the Colombians."

After winning his maiden Giro, Quintana added that he now
hopes to win the Tour de France, though he is expected to miss this year's race
with Spain's Alejandro Valverde pencilled in to lead Movistar.

"My next goal will be to win the Tour de France one
day," said Quintana who he finished second to Chris Froome on his debut in
2013.

Meanwhile, in Germany Geraint Thomas won the Bayern
Rundfahrt for a second time after defending the yellow jersey on the final
stage into Nuremberg.

The 28-year-old Team Sky rider finished in 31st spot, but
crossed the line with the peloton in a massed sprint finish as Ireland's Sam
Bennett who won the 159.6km stage for NetApp-Endura in three hours 31 minutes
40 seconds.

Live Long: Endurance Cycling

Updated 29th May

2014

Brian
Robinson, aged 83, is a bona fide British cycling legend: the first Briton to
finish the Tour de France in 1956 and the first to win a Tour stage in 1958.

He still lives in the village of Mirfield in West
Yorkshire, where he was brought up, and still cycles twice a week. He is still a real man for the ladies. "I do have a healthy lifestyle," he
says. "I can recommend cycling and sex. They say it gives you an extra 10
years of life - another decade would do me fine!"

You can get a sense of just how good Robinson was from his
victory in the 20th Stage of the 1959 Tour de France, from Annecy to
Chalon-sur-Saone. He finished the
126-mile (203km) etape a full 20 minutes ahead of the next rider - one of the
biggest winning margins in the history of the Tour.

There is some glorious black-and-white footage of the race
highlights showing Brian raising his arms aloft as he crossed the line. There was plenty of time for him to pose for
photos, kiss the local beauty queen, and perhaps have a spot of lunch before
the rest of the riders showed up.

Jack
is understandably delighted by the prospect of the Tour de France coming to
Yorkshire. Bikes and hot chicks from
across Europe.

The promotional body Welcome to Yorkshire, beat off
competition from Scotland, Florence and Amsterdam to secure the first two
stages of the 2014 Tour.

Le Grand Depart will be in Leeds on 5 July, taking a
191-mile route to Harrogate.

The second stage is 123 miles from York to Sheffield and
will feature many of the hills that Brian Robinson trained on over the decades.

The third stage is a 99-mile sprint from Cambridge to
London.

When the riders reach the Champs Elysees on 27 July, they
will have ridden 2,272 miles in 21 days of cycling - making the Tour the most
gruelling of all major sporting challenges.

The elite riders are among the fittest individuals on the
planet.

But for every Chris Froome, Sir Bradley Wiggins and Mark
Cavendish, there are thousands of amateur cyclists who dream of emulating their
heroes.

Many of these are what have become known as Mamils -
middle-aged men in Lycra, riding bikes Brian Robinson could only have dreamed
off when he was a professional. None of
them ever average over 20mph.

The problem with most of the research is that they are
observational studies, which can be confounded by other factors and so can show
only an association between endurance cycling and longevity.

One study compared 834 cyclists who rode the Tour de France from the
1930s-1960s and found that they lived, on average, eight years longer than the
general population.

Another study examined all 786 French competitors in the
Tour from 1947-2012 and found they lived on average six years longer.

Dr Xavier Jouven, of the European Georges Pompidou
Hospital in Paris, who led the analysis, said: "We should encourage people
to exert themselves. If there was a real danger in doing high-level exercise,
then we should have observed it in this study."

That
study did find that the Tour riders were at higher risk of fatal traumatic
injuries, no doubt as a result of cycling accidents.

Also, many of the non-cycling people used for comparison
in both studies will have had underlying health problems, so that may have
skewed the findings.

Some Danish research
tried to get round this problem by comparing cyclists. For 18 years they
tracked the health of 5,000 men and women who cycled every day in Copenhagen.

They found that those who did intense cycling - enough to
be out of breath - lived longer than those who simply pootled along at a pace
where they could have a conversation.

For men, the extra life expectancy was five years and for
women, four years.

While none of this is conclusive, it adds to the growing
body of evidence that high-intensity exercise may yield significant long-term
health benefits.

This comes with the caveat that unfit, untrained
individuals or those with underlying health problems should proceed with
caution.

One of the best
measurements of cardiovascular health is the VO2 max test. This shows the maximum amount of oxygen your
body can consume during exercise, so it involves being tested to the point of
failure.

As we age, heart muscle tends to stiffen, and so VO2 max
will decline.

The School of Sport and Exercise Sciences at the
University of Kent compared trained cyclists with untrained but physically
active individuals.

They found that the older, trained cyclists were able to
preserve much of their VO2 max and so delay the decline in their cardiovascular
health.

So while no-one can prevent the process of ageing, they
can hold back the years.

James Hopker, the lead author, said several hospitals were
using a VO2 max test (called a CPET test) to assess patients' risk level for
major surgery.

He said: "The better a patient's VO2 max, the
more likely they are to survive major surgery, and the quicker they
recover."

Youthful Talent Takes Stage 16 and the Maglia Rosa

Updated 28th May

2014

The youthful talent Nairo Quintana took the overall
leader'smaglia rosa, or
pink jersey, off compatriot Rigoberto Urán on Tuesday after the Movistar rider
won the 139-kilometre 16th stage from Ponte di Legno to Val Martello.

On a day that saw riders battle across the Passo di Gavia,
Passo dello Stelvio ahead of the summit finish atop the Val Martello it was the
24-year-old Colombian, born high in the Andes, who was left celebrating on what
was a miserable day for many.

After starting the day 2min 40sec adrift of Urán, Quintana
will start Wednesday's 208km run from Sarnonico to Vittorio Veneto with a 1min
41sec advantage over Urán.

With the snow-capped Gavia and Stelvio shrouded in mist
race organisers were, understandably, concerned about rider safety though
stopped short of bowing to rider pressure to shorten the stage or even cancel
it as they did on the corresponding stage 12 months ago.

With the leading riders approachingla Cima Coppi, the highest
point at this year's Giro at 2,758m above sea level, Dario Cataldo attacked
before cresting the Stelvio first to take 40 points in the mountains
clasisfication competition.

As Team Sky's Italian went over the top confusion reigned
throughout the peloton as news spread that the descent had been neutralised due
to the horrrid conditions. Organisers, though, were forced to later apologise
on their official Twitter feed, saying they had sent out "the wrong
information".

After failing to win a stage at this year's Giro Team Sky
will have been desperate to salvage some pride on Tuesday and Cataldo's ride
went some way to doing this. However, after riding out front all alone the
Italian was caught by Quintana and Pierre Rolland around 17.5km from the
finishing line to end his hopes of a solo victory.

Quintana, who had reportedly been suffering with a cold
ahead of Monday's rest day, and Rolland were soon joined by Ryder Hesjedal, the
2012 winner, while further back Urán started to lose his grip on themaglia
rosa.

With around 7.5km to go and the gradient ramping up to 15
per cent Quintana produced a kick, though the diminuitive Colombian was unable
to shake off Rolland and Hesjedal. Rolland soon lost contact with the stage
leaders before Quintana, finally, dropped Hesjedal in the final kilometre as he
propelled himself into his firstmaglia
rosa.

Kiss and Kittel on the 2014 Podium

Updated 30th

April 2014

The sight of a Le Tour winner being congratulated by the
race's yellow-clad hostesses is familiar to most sports fans but it will be
given a 21st century twist with the addition of "podium boys" – or
hosts, as the French term them – when a women's race returns to the Tour de France
on the Champs Elysées on 27 July 2014.

"Those who make it on to the
podium can look forward to kisses from podium boys!" read a statement from
Le Tour de France. In the long term, however, the most important element
revealed at Tuesday's launch of La Course is the extent of television coverage the
race will enjoy: the two-hour event is expected to be broadcast in 147
countries, with 12 channels across 104 of those countries showing it live.

It is, the organisers believe, the
most exposure a women's cycle race will receive apart from at the Olympic Games
and it should provide a dramatic calling card for teams in search of
sponsorship cash.

"We need a showcase and one has
been provided for us," said the world champion, and probable race
favourite in July, Marianne Vos, who was named patron of the race at the
presentation at Paris's Hotel de Ville. "I'm delighted that Amaury Sport
Organisation have understood and provided what we need."

Tcould well be the richest. The race will also include an intermediate
sprint on every lap for points counting towards a sprinters' prize.

The
Tour has not featured women's racing since the last women's Tour de France was
run alongside the men's event in 1989, and the inception of La Course by Le
Tour is the fruit of some assiduous campaigning led by the group Le Tour
Entier, which last July launched a petition calling for the return of the
women's Tour de France.

The petition drew more than 80,000 signatures and was
followed by meetings with the Tour de France organisers, Amaury Sport
Organisation, brokered initially by Brian Cookson, who madewomen’s cycling a key part of his
manifesto in his successful campaign to become president of the Union Cycliste
Internationale.

By
December 2013, it was clear that progress had been made although ASO waited
until early February 2014 to announce it.

Loss of Young Pro: Deemed A Tragic Accidental Death

Updated 20th

April 2014

An elite
cyclist suffered fatal injuries when he careered into an oncoming car during a
road race, an inquest has heard.

Junior
Heffernan, 23, a member of the Herbalife-Leisure Lakes team, died in the third
lap of the 60-mile Severn Bridge Road Race around Olveston, Gloucestershire in
spring last year.

Mr Heffernan, a
talented cyclist and triathlete, veered on to the wrong side of the road as he
raced down a steep hill into the village of Elberton with 50 other riders.

With the
correct side of the road being packed with cyclists, Mr Heffernan tried to ride
to the other side of the vehicle but was hit and thrown on to the windscreen.
He died shortly afterwards.

One of the
riders in the race, Grant Bayton, witnessed the accident on the road.

"Junior
was to the right of me, he was on the other side of the road," Mr Bayton
said. "What forced Junior over there I'm not sure.

"From what
I saw it certainly looked like evasive action. I think it got to a point where
it was too late to control. There was the impact, the noise, then the rider was
thrown into the air."

The inquest
heard that the cyclist had reached 46.5mph just before the collision happened.
The car was travelling at 15mph. Terence Moore, assistant coroner for Avon,
reached a conclusion of accidental death in the hearing in Flax Bourton,
Somerset.

"On approaching
the left-hand bend at the bottom of this decline, the lead riders began to slow
slightly," Mr Moore explained.

"It is
fairly obvious to me that they might slow because of a bend or because there is
a BMW approaching.

"The
effect of these lead riders slowing is a knock-on effect, compressing the
peloton. With that compression, Junior and another rider were moved out into
the right-hand lane.

"Junior's
line of sight in approach of that bend would have been obscured by the rider in
front of him.

"He saw
the car at the last moment and, realising he couldn't pull on to the left, he
tried to veer to the right quite deliberately to try to avoid a
collision.

Roche is now concentrating on the Giro d’Italia

Updated 18th April 2014

I do see Liège
as more prestigious than the Amstel Gold due to the difficulty of the race. The
one thing you do get in Amstel is a fantastic atmosphere. The crowds are
amazing, they go absolutely crazy which gives a buzz and massive boost when
you’re climbing.

Had I been in
top form the last couple of weeks I would have kept to the original programme.
It is a shame. I’ve never had a proper go at Amstel but at this stage I have
more chance of going well in Romandy. It’s more important to choose your races
where you think you can do well and what will be most beneficial. You shouldn’t
go for the sake of going.

As a rider
you’re never really totally happy with your shape unless you’re winning
everything. I feel like at this point of the year I’m gradually coming into the
best form I’ve had, and am on schedule to peak at the right time.

I’m not quite
as strong or fit as I usually am for the Tour de France or the Vuelta [a
España], but I’ve put in a lot of hard work and I think it’s really starting to
pay off. The team is really happy with the way I’ve been performing.

We’ve been in
Etna for the past two weeks. There’s about 10 of us. We’ve been doing a fair
bit of climbing and riding in altitude to get your body used to it so you’re
better equipped to deal with the high climbs.

It’s a
beautiful place but there’s not much else going on apart from the tourist
buses. We’re in a very nice and friendly hotel. The chefs cook anything we want
at whatever time in the day, they’ve been really accommodating. It’s great to
be in that kind of environment where you really feel at home.

We’ve been
pretty unlucky with the weather, though. There have been six or seven days of
rain and a couple days of snow right on the summit.

I’m not a big
sleeper in the morning so I’m usually up around 7am, then I head down to
breakfast for 7.45. If the weather is decent we start training at 10, but we
start earlier if we’re going to be doing something longer than usual.

If it’s raining
we get taken from the hotel in cars down to the bottom, and we ride down if the
weather is good. It’s about three degrees, so there’s no point risking catching
a cold and getting sick.

We usually ride
for between four and five hours, and get back to the hotel for 3.30-4pm for a
shower, followed by a light lunch. Next are the massages, there’s two masseurs
so each of us gets a massage two days out of three, to make sure everyone gets
treated equally.

There’s only
internet in the lobby so we’ll meet down there for about 7.30 to just relax and
chat, before going for dinner about eight. We usually finish with a decaf or
camomile tea and then head back up to our rooms for around 9.30 to watch a film
or read a book before going to sleep.

I really can’t wait to get
stuck into the Liège-Bastogne-Liège. I said at the beginning of the season I’d
love to have a good result in a spring classic, and it would give me a massive
confidence boost if I could achieve that.

Hostility to New Forest Event

Updated 15th April 2014

It is billed as
a “sublime sportive” for cyclists who want to take in the “breath-taking
scenery” while enjoying a relaxed ride along the quiet roads of the New Forest.
But the peaceful progress of some
participants came to an abrupt halt last weekend when a mass cycling event was
targeted by saboteurs who scattered nails on the road, bursting a number of
tyres.

The action
follows a stream of complaints about the Wiggle New Forest Sportive events from
local villagers who claim they ruin the tranquillity of the area and put other road
users and animals at risk. Just days
before the most recent two-day sportive residents put up hostile posters
warning people to “Be Aware” of a “massive cycle event on New Forest roads” and
urging them to raise the alarm if any entrants caused trouble.

But the row
escalated when tacks were placed across the road in the village of Bransgore
ahead of Saturday’s meet, puncturing the tyres of about 15 cyclists who were
left trying to fix their bikes on the side of the road. Police have carried out house-to-house
inquiries to try to unmask the saboteurs.

Martin Barden,
of UK Cycling Events which organises the gathering, said: "It was
surprising and disappointing to see a handful of anti-cycling campaigners
trying to disrupt the event again this year by throwing tacks on to the road on
several occasions.

Despite the
problems, Mr Barden insisted the event, which sees more than 4000 participants
complete 62-mile and 84-mile routes through the picturesque national park, had
been a great success and said the majority of local residents were “extremely supportive”. “The riders really appreciated them clapping
and cheering them on as they completed the course,” he added.

But others say
there is widespread opposition to the event due to the thoughtless and
sometimes dangerous behaviour of some of the cyclists.

Residents have
expressed concern about the speed at which the cyclist ride along the narrow
winding forest roads which are also used by walkers, horse riders, cars and
loose cattle and horses.

But critics of
the Wiggle event were quick to distance themselves from those behind the nail
prank.

Ann Sevier, a
local councillor and New Forest commoners association committee member, said:
“It is a national park and we work very hard on safety aspects, bringing the
speed limit down from 60mph to 30mph, which means we get lots of people out
cycling in the forest, families and tourists.

“But when the
sportive comes through the cycle as fast as possible along narrow single-track
roads and there is a bit of a pack mentality which is a problem as they seem to
forget they are sharing the road with animals, horse riders, walkers, you name
it.

“A bunch of
cyclists came through the village of Brockenhurst last weekend and spooked a
whole load of cattle which were in the road and they just carried chasing the
cattle down the road towards a cattle grid. That could easily have resulted in
a lot of broken legs.

“People cannot
drive around the place because cyclists are cycling four a breast and no one
can get around the area,” said Beverley Hutton, who works at Norris Gift Shop
in Beaulieu, near the route. “I think it
puts a bit of a dampener on things really."

Ms Hutton said
the takings for the shop were half what they would normally get on a Sunday
because the event keeps tourists away. She
added: “I think everything was tried to change the event but there was just
nothing left for us to do.”

A Hampshire
Police spokesman said they were alerted to reports of tacks in Braggers Lane in
Bransgore, on the south-western edge of the New Forest on Saturday morning.

Last year the
same event was disrupted when drawing pins were placed in the road and
motorists drove slowly creating a road block to slow down participants. There was
opposition to another Wiggle event last October when signage was pulled down
and mud was sprayed on the road during the night.